Legends of Vana’diel: The Ordrynite of Pso’Xja
by Levuica
Summary: Ch.3 is up! Levuica is off to find the rare ore Ordrynite! The trip is a dangerous one that will lead into the heart of Pso'Xja itself. With a small group he must brave the beastmen, the traps and find not only the ore, but the truth of Wiste's death! R
1. Chapter 1

Legends of Vana'diel: The Ordrynite of Pso'Xja

By: Levuica

Recently, I had attended a gathering at the Steaming Sheep in the port of Bastok. Melloa greeted me as always, the charming girl always had a bright gleam of youth still in her after all these years of working here. After having a bit of roast mutton and some iron bread we decided to talk about old times. Oh! For all you readers who never been to Bastok; the name iron bread is deserving after all, Melloa used a knife the size of a hatchet to slice the bread… Alas, I am getting side-tracked as usual…The reason I came to Bastok was to seek information about a rare ore called Ordrynite that Cid has been begging adventures to get. The rumors are pretty standard for something this valuable; they are held in a forbidden place and are guarded by some fierce fiends. I bet my overwhelming enthusiasm for these thankless tasks just jumps off the page at you! Uh…never mind you already know… Sadly, it was time to do some grunt work; bills to pay and the ladies don't care for a gil-pincher.

Melloa pointed me in the direction of a rat-like man who had the need to rub his hands together every so often and crane his neck like a dhalmel every time someone entered the restaurant. She seemed uncomfortable with the guests at the place, so rather then ignore a beautiful lass.. I walked up to this low-life slime and slammed down half a loaf of iron bread on his head.

"OWWW! Whaaaat diiid yoou thaaaa---" he called out as he fell unconscious. The entire restaurant and its patrons fell in complete silence as a tall brutish Galka drew his katana and pointed it at my face.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" he growled, his deep voice full of pure malice and anger that was barely being restrained. His face was contorted and red from the outrage and restraint of his anger.

Being the charmer that I am, I decided to taunt the beast on with some choice words. I only was trying to state the obvious, I swear!

"I am Levuica the Treasure Hunter and Charmer of the Ladies! Enough about me though! Do you happen to be called Furious Constipation?"

"YOU IGNORANT BA---"

"You people always have such weird names, but I guess I can see why you-" I continued, but was cut short by a furious stab from his wakizashi which took only a quick jump on to the table to easily dodge. "Whoa, that butter knife can cut people you know!"

The brutish Galka was growing more furious by the moment, his skills with a weapon were terrible and his anger made it even worse. He made wide and careless stabs to slashes at me, but he would never touch me with skills like that. After being bored by him, I jumped up to the top of the balcony where the good-lady Hilda was.

From my pack I pulled out my Coffinmaker and pointed it at the enraged monkey that was cursing up a storm of some of the most creative profanities in the world. Though a quick bullet in the arm turned them into shrieks of pain as he hobbled back to the door and ran out crying for his life.

Melloa sighed and gave me a slight grin. Hilda who was a little relieved that

the fighting had ended seemed a bit troubled.

"Levuica…Your methods have lash backs you know. It won't be long before he returns with his boss!" I decided to sit down at a table in front of the door, noticing that the other two patrons were staying clear of this mess.

A young Hume ran into the restaurant and yelled, "Lord Levuica! I missed you!" It was Flaco; he often stood outside the Steaming Sheep Restaurant just loitering and passing stories around. As soon as he saw the gold gleam of my gun he flinched and gasped, "What did I do?!" No sooner had the door closed from Flaco's entrance then it opened again, two figures stood in shadow of the light.

"GET DOWN!"

I fired. Crack. Hiss. BWOOO-PING! The bullet was deflected by a magical shield into the wall of the restaurant; leaving a smoking crater. A beautiful woman walked into the restaurant, a woman I've never seen before. Flaco made a hasty retreat and the second figure obscured by the light from the outside wrapped an arm around Flaco and walked off laughing like old pals down towards the docks.

The woman came into full view as the lights of the tavern unveiled her, her beauty was revealed. She had scarlet hair as red as bloodthread cloth with a beautiful black ribbon in it. Her beautiful, soft face was that of an angel. Soft eyebrows over beautiful brown eyes and a perfectly cute nose positioned between them. Her luscious sexy and full lips could seduce any man in the world, but those beautiful elegant Elvaan ears pierced with two diamond earrings were absolute overkill. The fact that she was wearing a red priestess outfit was the only let down; for it covered those two beautiful orbs, strong hips and elegant legs that make for an irresistible woman. She walked with such passion in her eyes and dominance in stride that gave an almost terrifying mix of emotions to anyone who was caught in her piercing glare from those eyes. At last she spoke! And it was like the angels themselves sang as she called out suggestively, "You shot on the mere sight of me? Surely such a man of a reputation as yours knows how dangerous that is to his freedom… to carelessly shoot his ammo into a woman without warning or approval…"

"I'm Fuusyo, head of the Tenshodo branch of Bastok." she said, pulling out a cigarette and offering it to me. This girl had style, she knew I was a lover of Kazham's cigarettes, which have been barred from trade to protect Windurst's pitiful cigars. Fuusyo put it in my mouth and her finger lit up with a low-level fire spell, lighting the cigarette. With two little puffs I felt the tobacco and a 'mood-enhancer' spell on the cigarette relax not only my mind, but my muscles.

"Now Lord Levuica, why did you have to go and shoot my men? Surely they have been behaving themselves?" she said, pulling herself into a chair and laying down one elbow on the table; giving me a disappointed look.

I inhaled the cigarette, burning the whole thing at once and let out a long stream of smoke into the air before I said anything. When I finally spoke I was calm and as relaxed as possible; maybe too relaxed. I sighed as I said, "Between you and me, you need to keep them on a shorter leash and let the obvious weak ones go."

Melloa walked over to the table and set down two glasses of Galkan Wine. "Here you two go. They're on the house." The nervous Melloa looked up at the balcony to Hilda who must have given her a warning. Two of the most dangerous people in Bastok have come together under her roof to talk business, and the way we do business is the way we live.

Fuusyo grabbed the bottle of wine and looked at it, "I know, its just hard to find good help these days. Gentlemen like you have left this business; there is not a single man left in this profession with morals or honor in all the world!" With that she drank about half of it before putting it down on the table, staring directly into the purple wine.

"Gilgamesh."

Her eyes closed for a second, reliving her life and thinking about the aging king. When she opened them again her brown eyes where much softer then they should be for a pirate. It almost seemed as if she was going to speak about an old lover until they once again glazed over and became cold again.

"He's just an old sea dog now, his bite is not what it once was. The Adonis has sired nothing meaningful in his life. Oh Levuica…will you return to us?"

She placed a crest on the table, it was the seal of the Tenshodo. It shone brightly and secretly. The kanji was embroidered skillfully and elegantly onto the black seal. I placed my hand over it and shook my head.

"I cannot return; I am no longer able to live that way."

She placed her soft and warm hand on mine, it was strong and supple. Her hand was that of a leader and a lover; a rare gift in this world of harsh cruelties.

"I beg of you! Even if it is only for a short time! I will do anything!"

With that I was beaten. I could not refuse her in her time of need, but I was prepared to ensure that I would not suffer for it either. I placed my other hand over hers and embraced it.

"Alright. Under one condition. I need some Ordrynite ore."

Her eyes widened with joy, and then shrunk in terror as I spoke the words of my condition. Her body became tense, her pupils shrunk, the warmth from her face faded into a pale white, her body began to quake.

"P-P-P-Pso….Xja!?" she stammered. I set my eyes onto hers, nodding softly. She pulled her hand away from mine with such force that she sent her bottle of wine flying through the air and into the wall, where it shattered into a thousand shards. The liquid rained like blood down onto the floor, rained on by the shards of glass. Everything faded into darkness, it was only as if us two people existed in the world now.

"I-I c-can't! Th-That's sui-sui-suicide! Levuica!" she continued.

Even I remember the day I came across the journal of Wiste and the final entry in his journal:

881-03-04 - Inside the Depths of Pso'Xja

I've come across a most amazing thing! Inside the ruins of Pso'Xja is ore with great power, but it is unrefined still by the beastmen who roam our ancient city. Little do they know of its power to open up Pso'Xja's final secrets. They do not know about the depths of Pso'Xja itself, the inner sanctum it still beyond their reach. However, even I do not know what lies hidden behind the sealed door. I've obtained enough of the ore to smelt down for an ingot to have Jinn make some bullets for us to use. What lies beyond the gate will surely be dangerous beyond all measure. The legends speak of a Demon Overlord who was trapped in magical chains and thrown into the sanctum to protect it and imprison it forever. This will be my last entry in this log, but Popohan shall deliver the next one in two months. Tomorrow we will open the Sealed Door with Jinn's magic and head inside the inner sanctum.

Wiste and Jinn never returned from Pso'Xja. Popohan, Wiste's moogle, flew to Jeuno and delivered grim news that his master had been slain in one of the most horrible ways imaginable. Ripped to shreds piece by piece by guardians of Pso'Xja. The screams of the two explorers were heard not only by the moogle, but by the beastmen of Pso'Xja. The Cryptonberrys entered into a pact with Aldo to protect Pso'Xja and make it their home, but promised never to open the inner sanctum. As time passed the Tenshodo kept ownership of the ruins, but the Cryptonberrys had broken the pact and would not let anyone enter. As a restraint against them a special group monks from the Far East called Hoshis. Powerful magical wards were placed on the towers that weakened all who were in Pso'Xja's towers, but they have already failed in some places. Pso'Xja is more in the hands of the beastmen then the Tenshodo.

Fuusyo finally calmed herself and spoke, "I will grant you passage, but I shall not follow you if you choose to go." She massaged her brow as if she was still thinking things out.

"We'll need to go speak to Aldo about this. You will need a pass to enter Pso'Xja…Even if you are a member."

I took the crest and decided to once again become part of the Tenshodo, even if it was out of my own desires to get what I want or who I want…in this case it was a little of both. I could not see her suffer and I could not avoid the promise of riches, but if I got really lucky I could spend a special night or two with the most beautiful woman in Bastok and the Tenshodo. Maybe that was second most beautiful in Bastok…Ayame was probably the most beautiful and that Ayame was always such a kink in the sack. Everyone in Bastok remembers that affair after all.

While I was daydreaming about Ayame's cute butt, my lustful intentions had made themselves clear to Fuusyo and she gave me the most demonic look ever. Her face became a hideous contorted mask of pure malice as she said in a deep convicting voice.

"If your sticky fingers find their way onto me or my belongings then I will have no choice, but to cut off your manhood and your fingers with my katana and feed it to the dogs!"

The feeling of dread overcame me right then and there. She was threatening not only my well-being, but the many sons that one woman will bestow upon me…as well as my livelihood. I had no choice, but to barter with her.

"Give me three chances with my hands on your beautiful body and none on your possessions and it's a deal. I would surely lose if I couldn't even touch that divine body you possess. For I am just not as restrained as most men when I see such beauty."

I reached out and gently grasped her hand with mine. She became flustered and shocked at my advance and then stood up and said, "That was two." Obviously it wasn't going well, she was flattered, but not charmed by it. Even though I could swear she smirked as she left as she said, "Two hours to the airship to Jeuno. Be there."

With that she left and walked out of the restaurant without so much as a single glace back. Her hair gently bounced with each step, her robe bouncing in sync with her hair. Only then did I realize that a jealous Melloa was standing beside me.

"You….dirty….filthy….flea-infested…son-ofa--"

"MELLOA!?"

She held a tray threateningly high above my head, held up by both hands her angry face seemed like it was about to burst. I put my hand up just in time to catch it as she brought it down upon me. If I only remembered that the chairs in the restaurant were within breaking strength for Melloa with her 'hammer' then I would have tried to dodge it outright. Instead the chair broke and sent my butt crashing to the floor.

She left me in a pile of splintered wood and knocked over the rest of the wine onto my head before storming off into the back room. Melloa has always had a wicked temper, but I am one of the few who actually knows about it. Elvaan have incredible strength when angry or otherwise. Though since my butt hurt from the fall, I decided to leave as quickly as possible with what was left of my shattered pride.


	2. Chapter 2

Legends of Vana'diel: The Ordrynite of Pso'Xja

Chapter 2

I left soon after Fuusyo. The street of Bastok were always crowded with the people about their daily lives. Bastok is about the only place in the world in which I can keep my identity somewhat secret. The women do not scream my name and tackle-hug me. They do not scream for the guards either. Bastok is my favorite city for that. Jeuno being a close second. Someday soon I hope to return to paradise…San d'oria. Big busted Elvaan women roaming the streets in skimpy outfits; selling delicious roasted carp and wearing sexy leather clothes! It'd be heaven if the Royal Knights were not always after me for 'lewd behavior' or 'suspected robbery' or 'unwanted molestation'. Those stuck up jerks really need to pull the stick out of their asses and realize that honor is worthless if it means you have to spend your whole life being uptight and can't ever have any fun. Though I won't go into the details of what a few Royal Knights did when they headed to Kazham on expeditionary force. He-he.

The stands of Bastok always had good food up for sale. Little old men and women would stand in their shops and call out to you with such offers as, "Selbina Milk only 10 gil!" and "Delicious Popotos half off!" and "Want some beautiful diamond earrings for your sweetie!?". During Summerfest the streets would be crowded in the market square and all the beautiful women wore yukatas. Some of the guys who didn't mind being ashamed of themselves also do, but my interests lie elsewhere. Bastok was lively and full of hopeful merchants. I wish I could have stayed longer and headed down to the housing district, but I needed to go see my favorite Tarutaru in Bastok.

I stood outside of Sororo's Scribe and Notary and noticed a sign on the door that read:

"Books half off today! Come on in! Side Note: Do to the results of Bastok's Conquest we will be unable to offer Madame Blanc's Notary supplies."

I opened up the wooden doors and went in, Sororo was sitting on the stool writing on some paper with a quill. A pile of papers reached far over his head.

"Hellow-mellow! Welcome to Sororo's Scribe and Notary." he said before shouting, "NIX!" Sending all the papers flying into the air and uttered a soft chant before flames spewed from his fingers and burned everything all at once, "BURN!"

The enraged Tarutaru sighed and went back to his stool, "Sorry about that, those worthless idiots at the ministry keep trying to close me down and this is probably my last month here now." His little ears perked up through his cloak when he saw me at last, "Oh my! Levuica? What on Vana'diel brought you here!" He started to panic and tried to jump off his stool to safety before I reached out and grabbed him by the cloak and held him in mid-air.

"ZAIRA! HELP!" he screamed and squirmed. He was shaking in fear, his little hands trying desperately to free himself from my tight grasp.

A beautiful girl in a simple black cloak and slops came out from behind the closed door on my right. She smirked and said, "Well…Looks who back from the dead. What seems to be the problem Sororo?" She took a look at me holding him by the chest with one hand and giggled.

"USELESS!" Sororo screamed as he squirmed. All of a sudden his eyes turned blue as he welled up with magical power, "HOLY!" The room flashed white with light and the near instantaneous speed of his speed prevented any chance of stopping it. I was encased in light that hurt painfully and pierced my clothes, attacking my soul directly. I was barely hurt by it, but the fact he still tried it was enough to make me angry. So I dropped him on the floor from chest-height. His little butt could have bounced because the next words out of his mouth was a string of curse words that could have woken the dead.

I mocked him and patted him on the head with one hand, "I see you've been improving in my absence." I noticed his shop had gotten a lot nicer then the last time I left it. Both candle operas had been fixed. They put in a brand new rug and even fixed the marble counter. They covered the two large holes in the wall with matching purple tapestries. Fixed the bookshelves…and got new copies of the books to match. The last time I left this shop it seemed ready for demolition, but I guess that is another story entirely.

Sororo sighed and got back to his counter and pulled out a pipe, his voice was deep even though he was a Tarutaru. No doubt his magic for voice augmentation was still perfect. He said his words poorly, but his voice was as beautiful as an opera singer of Jeuno, "So. What brings you back here."

He smoked his pipe and stared at me as Zaira looked at the two of us; as if she was watching a reunion of two rivals from school, almost expecting a fight to break out. I kicked my food a little on the rug and sighed, "Journals."

At last something I said piped his interest. Sororo nodded and added for me, "Wiste again? You're as good as dead if you go down that road again." He jumped to another stool and looked through a large leather bound book. He flipped through the pages and ran his finger down the lists. Still puffing up little clouds of smoke every once in awhile.

"I remember that one myself. I'm getting on in years, but it was the biggest cover-up in history. Only the ministry heads remember it well after all; rumors have been circulating recently about it after Cid started asking for Ordrynite. It was no accident."

I nodded and let him search through, Sororo likes to talk to himself it seemed. The Tarutaru have always been like that; by the age of fifty most of them are senile, but they always change their appearance to hide it.

"Wiste was such a charmer. That lad would have grown up to be one hell of a white mage to. He stopped his studies after getting mixed up with that group of pirates though." he finished and shot a piercing glance at me as if he knew.

"Don't think you can hide your sins from me Levuica. I know you have not heeded me in the past, but this is something best left dead. Joining the Tenshodo again will be your downfall. We all loved Wiste and I know you too well to be doing good deeds for Cid without some alternative motive. Seriously, not even the ministry could handle what he ran into. That THING is beyond all measure, it will surely kill you and everyone you are with."

Zaira turned her head away at hearing the story. She was no doubt on the verge of tears. Even though she was not around to hear of the story, it was engraved into the minds of everyone through the stories from the expeditions to Pso'Xja before it was off limits. Now that it was reopened the disturbing deaths surrounding the ruins have surely overwhelmed those who were tied to those lost.

Sororo closed the book and sighed, breathing out smoke from his pipe, "I'm sorry, but I do not have it. It was sold some time ago to a man in a black cloak. He never gave his name and never returned. I'll need to ask the ministry for a copy if you really want to pursue it that far."

Shaking my head no and said, "I remember it. I just wanted to--"

"No one can bring back the dead. I can save people from dying, but not even Jinn could save him. What makes you think you can avenge those two!"

My anger was reaching its peak and I pulled out my Coffinmaker and pointed it at Sororo, "Don't push me. I'm not a child anymore! I'll avenge them! Even if it takes my life to do so! He was like a brother to me!"

Sororo drew back a little and jumped off his stool, "Wiste was MY brother though. Just because you were friends with him doesn't mean you have to avenge him. Know your place."

"To hell with that! You're a coward! You say you loved him and admit how you feel, but won't go to avenge him!"

His eyes flashed and the next thing I knew was I was trapped in the crescent lights of a powerful stun spell as he chanted another spell. "Sleep forever Levuica! Anger the gods no more!" My body felt heavy and my eyes felt like they were about to close forever, but I would not slip away so easily, I pulled the trigger and shot at Sororo.

The bullet hit him and sent his little body into the wall, blood poured from his gaping wound and he coughed up blood onto the floor. His eyes turning blue a surge of magic overflowed him, making him a dangerous foe even with a fatal wound.

"LEVUICA! PERISH! FOUNTAIN OF MANA RELEASE!"

I pulled the trigger again, aiming for his head as he screamed. The bullet went into his head and he fell to the ground in a pool of blood. I resisted his sleep spell and finished him off, but it took a moment to clear my head. I noticed Zaira's wide eyes staring at me with murderous intent and I pointed the gun at her, "Don't even try it."

I walked up to the body of Sororo and kicked him with my foot, sending his body against the wall, "Damn faker." The blood on the floor started to move and head back to his body, the two wounds healing. He opened his eyes and floated in the air, embraced in holy light.

"Like hell it takes you three seconds to finish a spell. Some nice tricks coming from you, I bet the ministry would love to learn what you have been up to."

He snarled and cursed loudly again. Then without warning bolts of lightning shot from his fingertips. They connected instantly sending pain throughout my body, my muscle spasms made me throw my gun as I fell to the ground.

As soon as I hit the ground I felt my back being pentrated as I was impaled on a magical ice spear that shot up through me and out of my stomach. I started to lose consciousness from it, I was already in shock and my body was quickly giving into Death's sweet embrace as I said, "Coward."

I must have slipped into unconsciousness then, because the next thing I felt was a warm light and a woman embracing me. She was a beautiful Elvaan woman, holding my naked body to her naked body. Her strong arms embraced me tightly to her soft big breasts as she rested her head against my small Mithran body. With the voice of a goddess she said, "Levuica, welcome to my arms. Little one do you wish to return to Vana'diel or would you like to come with me to the next?"

I was dying and was being offered my choice…

As much as I wanted to go, I could not accept her and without me even saying she let me go from her arms and pushed me away. I saw her beautiful naked body. The beautiful curves, the beautiful legs, her breasts and her womanhood. As I moved away from the sweet goddess I no longer felt her warmth. I felt cold. My body began to hurt immensely. At last I openned my eyes and as everything came into view I thought I saw her. Though it just turned out to be a smug face of Sororo.

"Bastard." I said. My voice was soft and his smirk told me that he knew about what I saw. Zaira was standing to my left and was looking away from me softly.

"How's it feel to die? I repaid you for what you did to me." Sororo mocked.

"It might be something I'll have to consider. Wasn't bad at all."

Sororo laughed and motioned for me to get up, "Apparently your thing thinks so too, I never seen someone that happy to die. Zaira almost fainted. Apparently you are not going to the Underworld when you die…which is surprising for the way you live."

I quickly covered myself up with my beret, "Nope! Now can I have 50000 gil for each of you peeking at me?" Sororo laughed and Zaira actually fainted and slumped against the wall. "What's with her?" "She peeked with magic."

The two of us started laughing, but I could tell Sororo was more the jealous of me when he said, "So that's why they lock you up in the South. Its not that you are rare, but you are too manly for your own good. Explains why they don't let your type roam freely outside."

The sounds of an airship pulling into the docks roared through Bastok. Sororo checked his watch and blinked, "Strange its only 14:30. Well in any case…you won't listen to me at all about Pso'Xja. I guess I have to come along to protect you at least. However it won't be cheap. It's going to cost you 300,000 gil."

"300,000!?"

Sororo sighed, "Fine 200,000. Though that's after your 'peeking' charge I guess. I can save the shop with that then." I gave Sororo a strange look and he blushed a little and added, "Oh no worries Zaira will take care of the shop. She's really supposed to do this, but I am still teaching her. It will do her some good to fly-solo for awhile."

"Alright. Gather your stuff, we got less then fifteen minutes to go to the airship."

Sororo wrote a note quickly with his quill and stuck it on the passed out Zaira's forehead. He disappeared into his quarters on the left of the shop. Within a few minutes he came out with an oversized pack on his back.

"Let's get going." I said.

Sororo gently created some water from a spell to splash on Zaira's face, "No taking a nap on the job!" She woke up and blinked. "We're going; take care of the shop."

The poor girl could barely muster a "Yes, Sororo." before we left. The two of us ran like bandits down the street. Sororo was sprinting just to keep up with my running. It would be close, but hopefully we would reach the docks in time…after we got through customs.

Fuusyo grabbed me as we came up to the docks, "You are late and who is this puny runt with you?!" She pointed down at Sororo. Though Sororo would not let me introduce him to her. He called out to her as if she should already know his name, "Watch your tongue lass. Though I am small I am far more powerful then I appear to be. I am Sororo."

Fuusyo looked at Sororo and nodded, "Right. Then shall we get on the airship?" She pointed to a jet black airship that flew high overhead. Sororo gasped and pointed up as he exclaimed, "TENSHODO!?"

"Hold onto your drawers boys! Here we go!" Fuusyo said.

A magical aura surrounded the three of them and they were transported aboard the airship instantly. The ship had was in appearance the same as the ones that fly to and from Jeuno, but the construction was of steel and instead, it was a warship.

"Welcome aboard the Black Heart, the Tenshodo's airship. Made in Jeuno and stolen from Jeuno this airship is one of their new Warships. Its made for war."

"War?!" asked Sororo.

"Exactly. This ship is a prototype for a great war. We've already had several skirmishes with Jeuno, but we've never been shot down."

Sororo jumped in shock and started to run around the deck of the large airship, screaming his little head off, "THIS IS BAD! BAD! BAD! Why did I have to come with you Levuica! I'll never live to see tomorrow-sorrow!"

I grabbed him by his hood on his cloak and stopped him swiftly, "Hey. Its alright. We are going to see Aldo, the leader of the Tenshodo." Sororo started to panic again until I said, "We need his approval to enter Pso'Xja. So calm down."

Fuusyo sighed and gave me a look that just scolded me for bring aboard Sororo. I sighed as well, and shook my head at her, "It's alright…Let's head inside to get some sleep in our cabins."


	3. Chapter 3

Legends of Vana'diel: The Ordrynite of Pso'Xja

Chapter 3

Sororo headed inside and looked around the cabins, "Such small rooms and that's coming from a Tarutaru!" He jumped up and tried to reach the door handle, but he couldn't jump high enough. His anger grew every time he felt short or weak. So I graciously wrapped my tail around the handle and opened it with a quick snap of my tail. Inside was a toilet and the both of us started to laugh.

"Here you go Sororo! This will be your room tonight! Look even has a bathmat for you to sleep on!" I joked as I raised my foot up high into the air. His head turned up to look down at me; I smirked widely with a hint of mischief glaring in my eye. He began, "Huh? Whaa? OH SH--"

"PUNT!" I yelled as I kicked him by the butt inside and closed the door as quick as lightning.

"YOU SON OF A click" his voice became silent. I mused to myself out loud and giggled, "Sound proof walls. So that's how you shut a Tarutaru up." I started to walk away as I suddenly saw a purple aura come from the crack under the door. I decided it was best to leave quick.

As I started to walk down the corridor I saw five small rooms, and one of them was open. I ran in and closed it quickly and dove on the bed and its covers as fast as my legs would let me. That Tarutaru was about to blow and he'd be out for blood. However I should have checked the bed before I jumped on it. For the moment I touched the bed I felt a gun press against my face and a scary voice say, "You're bold…too bold for your own good."

Just then a loud explosion rocked throughout the entire ship. The sound of the bathroom door being blown into the wall was deafening. The wood splintered and screamed as a blast of powerful magic blew it apart. The flash of fire moved down the hall and for a quick second I could hear flames lapping against the bedroom door I was in. That was scary! I turned down and saw a surprisingly handsome Elvaan with dark red hair holding a small pistol to my head. The barrel was oversized and could easily carry a heavy round in it, knowing he wouldn't dare fire it at this range I pulled it away with my right hand and smiled, "You would kill yourself if you fired it. The gun would back fire at this range." He smiled and blushed a little, "As flattering and bold as you are I like to be in charge. Perhaps you did not come to my bed seeking comfort, but rather to escape your little friend."

He smirked and pointed his gun at the door and fired with my hand still on the gun, the bullet went over my ears, and slammed into the door blowing it clean off its hinges and a green aura deflected the door and the round. The door was instantly burned into nothing and the bullet must have met the same fate. There in the threshold was one pissed off short Tarutaru.

"WHAT IS WITH EVERYONE SHOOTING ME!" he yelled. His purple aura was starting to come back, he was preparing another major spell. All of a sudden a second round fired over my head. The pistol let loose another devastating round and hit Sororo in the chest, knocking him off his feet into the wall. Blood started to run down his cloak and after a second he got up and started to try and cast a spell, but no aura came to him. His eyes widened in terror as he was left defenseless, he opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

The red-haired beauty pushed me off the bed with one hand. His tall slender body was revealed in all its glory. A chiseled body stood proud and naked before me. I gasped in awe and he gave me a little smirk before he walked over to Sororo and grabbed him by the neck and picked him up off the ground. Sororo squirmed and kicked.

"I will restore your power if you promise to control your anger. If you damage my ship again I will end your life for good. No exceptions. No excuses." he said sternly.

Sororo closed his eyes and nodded. The Elvaan's right hand began to glow and it flowed into Sororo's neck and he dropped the little Tarutaru, "Such a troublesome Tarutaru. Why did you bring him aboard?" Sororo passed out as he hit the ground, lack of oxygen had gotten to him so quickly.

His eyes shot right at me and I was at a loss for words, surprised by his power I could only stammer, "Well…I….Sir--"

"Barbarossa . Captain Rossler Barbarossa."

"Captain Barbarossa . He is part of my group to Pso'Xja. I am Levuica."

Barbarossa's eyes widened and he walked back towards me. He got to me and he kneeled respectively outstretching his arm to help me up. Normally I would not take the hand of a naked man, but here was a welcome exception.

He helped me get back on my feet and quickly threw on his shirt and a black hakama. Over his white shirt was a parted black vest-piece and he topped it off with a black crux. His red hair was bold and powerful. An untamed man he was pirate of skies, the most fanciful imaginable.

"I'm honored Levuica and you should be to. If it were any other man I would have killed you for gazing at me so intently while covering myself." he smirked at me. Barbarossa obviously took a liking to me, but that was not necessarily a good thing. He was wild and untamed, but just as he was arrogant he was a good dresser. His beard was trimmed and fair fine. He wore his hair; it did not wear him.

"You arrogant bastard! You couldn't kill me if you tried." I smirked. Barbarossa was a very powerful pirate. Amongst the Tenshodo he was known as being one of the five most powerful in Vana'diel. Everyone in the Tenshodo knows Barbarossa is a master tactician. He single handedly held off the Royal Knights of San d'Oria during a raid on one of the warehouses. Barbarossa inflicted great injury to over half of guards and what is thought to be a miracle from Altana; no deaths occurred. However, it is because of the care Barbarossa alone that no death was inflicted on the guard. A powerful man does not need to boldly show his power or force to be powerful. Restraint and control are better indicators of power. Barbarossa may be powerful, but he is not one to kill for petty trivialities.

"Welcome back, Lord Levuica." he said. His voice was soft and sweet, but in it was such sincerity that it was clear he was not mocking me. "How about we go upstairs. We have company."

Far be it for me to understand how he knew, but he was right. No sooner had we walked up the stairs of the ship did a far-off object appear to the north. Fuusyo stood by me and pointed out it to me, "Look! It's the Jeuno warship again!"

Barbarossa yelled down into the cabin with a booming voice, "Change course, 300 degrees." His voice was so loud that it arouse Sororo up and the Tarutaru came bolting for Barbarossa at a sprint. A blast of thunder shot out towards the sky and illuminated the ship, any chance of not being noticed would surely be beyond us now. Though I wondered how Barbarossa evaded a magical attack with such ease, an albeit a powerful thunder spell to match. Barbarossa picked up Sororo and yelled at him, "Now that you had your nap, how about fighting for us since you gave our position away with that blast." Sororo blinked as Barbarossa let him down.

Sororo walked over towards Fuusyo and me and shouted, "Alright that's gone far enough. You have to let me in on this. What is going on!"

Fuusyo sighed and turned to me, but I was even less likely to answer. We stood in silence for a couple seconds until Barbarossa spoke at long last, "We must outrun the ship or we shall surely be destroyed. They will surely be at our heels after you so graciously announced our presence."

Sororo sighed and looked up into the sky. He started to glow purple as he began casting a powerful spell, perhaps more powerful then I ever seen come from him before, pure orbs of magic started to flow around his body as the powerful magic began to leak out of his body. One of those flecks of pure magic landed on the deck and it simply vaporized it on contact. Sororo was literally super-charged with magic.

"Stand back. As a Minster of the Optistry I have great magical power!" he yelled.

It felt like forever as he cast, but finally the aura exploded into a thousand shards and pooled into his hand as a spinning orb of pure black magic. He raised his hands towards the sky and it was sent flying into the sky.

"We have to get out of here NOW! Or we will die!" he yelled.

The skies began to darken as he said it. The clouds turned pitch black and day turned to night instantly. You could not see two feet in front of you, surrounded in the black veil of total darkness. Then a roaring sound screamed and I felt as if I was going to be sucked off the airship by the wind which whipped around on deck. Normally the speed of the airship made it a nice light breeze as the ships had a small amount of magical shielding to the wind, an invisible barrier or force field of sorts that helped to negate the wind when flying in intense wind. However it seemed to have no effect on the torrent of wind. The airship began to twist and the propellers began to creak in the wind.

"BARBAROSSA! The ship can't take this abuse!" I cried out, but not even I could hear myself over the whipping wind. I felt something strong grab my body and embrace me tightly. Then another body clutching a small object slam against my own. In complete darkness we fell downwards, the wind screaming and lifting me and tossing me in the air. My body whipped like rag doll and something caught my tail and in such pain I screamed and could not even hear myself cry out in agony as I was pulled down by my tail. Finally felt my body slam against the ground and felt arms holding me down, dragging me on the ground. Then into a tight spot, but the ship lunged and I landed against a wall, "What's going on!"

I shouted and to no avail. I could not hear myself, much less could anyone hear me. I held onto whatever I could and buried myself into cloth. I could feel a soft pounding and softness against my head. It was then I felt a hand on my head and I calmed down. Everyone was together in utter darkness, but everyone was together. In the arms of Fuusyo, with Barbarbossa's strong hand on my back holding me and Sororo close to Fuusyo.

After a short time a light appeared in the doorway, it was held by Hume girl with nothing more then white slacks and a white corselet. A somewhat bold look for a pirate, but nothing more outrageous then Barbarossa's clothes.

"Are you alright everyone?" she asked softly. Raising her lantern over us I realized I was hiding in the breasts of Fuusyo. Which I don't think she had a problem with under the circumstances. Being safe was of a much higher priority, but now that she could see me she pushed me away with one hand.

"That's enough of that Levuica, come on get off." she scolded me at last. Maybe I was wrong about the last part… Sororo jumped off her and stretched his little arms. Barbarossa helped Fuusyo up and fixed her robes up, gently brushing her backside with his hand.

Barbarossa sighed, "What on Vana'diel was that Sororo!?" He wiped his brow and moved outside of what was tiny bathroom towards the deck. Everyone followed him and what we saw was absolute terror and beauty. Behind us was a massive vortex of a tornado that was at least four thousand ilms wide. It was sucking in everything in its reach. The water from the ocean shot up higher and higher towards the pitch black clouds in the center. Then all of a sudden it ended, the tornado broke up and the clouds disappeared, a large rainbow formed as the sunlight hit the falling water. Then the rainbow too faded away as we grew more distant from it. It was only then did we realize that we were no longer being pursued and that Sororo had created the tornado on our pursuers.

"Altana…what beautiful devastation." Barbarossa exclaimed.

Sororo smirked and added, "Now don't cross me, but this is my true power." Fuusyo hugged the little Tarutaru and screamed, "Squeeee!" Both Barbarossa and me exchanged looks at each other as if we did not understand it.

"Ahem" said a voice behind us.

I turned and saw the girl with the lantern and she looked right into my eyes and smiled, but started to blush, "Lord Levuica, I am Kaede Mitsune. It's an honor to finally meet you."

Kaede Mitsune. She is a master of the martial arts, knowing over 200 different styles. Her speed and power are almost unrivaled in Vana'diel. She is gifted with amazing grace and excellent style that makes her movements seem as smooth as water.

"Master Mitsune, it is an honor to meet you at long last." I replied, blushing a little myself as I bowed to her.

Sororo walked up to Kaede and looked her over, "So you are Kaede Mitsune. You look simply divine, you have great talent." Sororo had a flare for sensing magic spells and he clearly noted something was not right about Mitsune.

Fuusyo bowed to Mitsune, "Thank you for helping us out so quickly, Kaede."

"Its no problem Lady Fuusyo, I'm happy to assist you." Mitsune bowed to Fuusyo respectfully.

Barbarossa looked up at the propellers, "Number two has been damaged badly, we'll make it to Norg, but it is unlikely that we will be leaving for awhile. That means it will take us a while to get to Kazham, then fly to Jeuno as commoners, then fly to San d'Oria and go to Pso'Xja. Wonderful."

After a long while we approached the hideout of the Tenshodo, the town of Norg. The injured airship entered the ship dock and disembarked, only to be greeted by a group of pirates. Surrounded by twenty or maybe even thirty of the Tenshodo's elites we were welcomed with daggers, katanas and guns drawn. Though all it took was Barbarossa's emergence from the airship to calm them.

"Barbarossa you son of a gun! Don't scare us like that!"

"Hey, look who's back! Get Aldo!"

After several minutes of welcoming and homecoming Aldo and Gilgamesh came to the docks. Aldo in his black cape and tan clothing came up to us first. Sororo eyes narrowed on him, "That's the man who purchased Wiste's Journal!"

Aldo made his way through his men followed closely by Gilgamesh. Clad in his white and black leather outfit Gilgamesh approached Barbarossa and welcomed him.

"What happened to the ship, she looks terrible." he asked.

Barbarossa's eyes darted inwards towards Sororo and he said, "The Warship. Presumably destroyed."

Gilgamesh raised his hands and clapped them, "Well done. Well done. That'll teach them to mess with the lot of ye." Aldo sighed and looked at Gilgamesh as everyone came out onto the dock, "I fear that they will not stop now they we have drawn first-blood. I will be unable to return to Jeuno if this continues.

"A tornado destroyed the ship and nearly us. It will be alright. If anyone raises questions about it they can see for themselves that it was not the Tenshodo's doing that caused the loss of their ship." commented Barbarossa.

Aldo nodded, "I suppose you are right. I'm glad to see that both the ship and everyone are alright."

Aldo looked right at me and nodded softly, beckoning me to his side. I jumped up onto the upper level of the stone wall to face Aldo. He looked me over and asked, "You've returned to us for the time being. I know what you seek. Come to my quarters and we shall discuss the terms of your return."

With the Aldo turned his back and proceeded away from the docks, he called out before he disappeared, "Captain Barbarbossa and Master Mitsune. You shall accompany Lord Levuica and Fuusyo."

Barbarbossa and Mitsune nodded and shouted, "Yes, sir! It'll be my honor to accompany them."

I followed behind Aldo. Aldo was intelligent and mysterious, but could he really have known what I was after and what I was seeking? In order to find out I caught up to him and he said, "Go rest. I need some time to think things through. No offense, but even I don't act on instinct alone."

Now that we had reached Norg, I decided to go enjoy myself rather then get some sleep. There would be plenty of time for that later, but now was the perfect time to get reacquainted with a few friends over a round of beers.


End file.
